


I Shall Believe

by Rakshi



Category: Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: Early Work, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-10-11
Updated: 2003-10-11
Packaged: 2017-10-26 18:44:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/286651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rakshi/pseuds/Rakshi





	I Shall Believe

_"I Shall Believe"  
Sheryl Crow_

 _Come to me now  
And lay your hands over me  
Even if it's a lie  
Say it will be alright  
And I shall believe_

 _I'm broken in two  
And I know you're on to me  
That I only come home  
When I'm so all alone  
But I do believe_

 _That not everything is gonna be the way  
You think it ought to be  
It seems like every time I try to make it right  
It all comes down on me  
Please say honestly you won't give up on me  
And I shall believe  
And I shall believe_

 _Open the door  
And show me your face tonight  
I know it's true  
No one heals me like you  
And you hold the key_

 _Never again  
would I turn away from you  
I'm so heavy tonight  
But your love is alright  
And I do believe_

 _That not everything is gonna be the way  
You think it ought to be  
It seems like every time I try to make it right  
It all comes down on me  
Please say honestly  
You won't give up on me  
And I shall believe  
I shall believe_

  
Elijah lurched from the bedroom, kicking clothes out of his way and cursing wildly. He entered the darkened living room, and cautiously groped his way toward the door. Halfway there he hit a table and swerved, only to slam his toe against a nearby chair. "Fuck!"

“One lousy fucking way to wake up,” Elijah mumbled. But the incessant ringing of his doorbell, hadn't left him much choice. He'd thought about ignoring it, but the fact that this person had even gotten TO his doorbell mean it was someone he knew. Someone who knew the code that opened the front gate. "Fuck," he repeated more quietly.

"Coming," he said, hopping toward the front door, nursing his throbbing toe in his hand. "I'm fucking coming!" he yelled, when the doorbell kept ringing.

He hit the light switch and threw the door open, fully prepared to verbally batter the so-called friend who had been stupid enough to come calling at 3 A.M. Drunk or sober, they'd better have a good explanation.

When he saw who it was, his mouth fell open.

Sean.

A disheveled, unshaven Sean, wearing a wrinkled grey suit and a half-unbuttoned white shirt. A dark tie was loosely looped around the shirt's collar. He leaned heavily on his right hand which was propped against the door-jam. He absolutely reeked of liquor.

For a shocked few seconds Elijah simply stared. Realizing that he was still holding his foot, he slowly lowered it to the floor.

Sean stood, motionless with his head down.

Elijah breathed his name, frightened by his stillness. "Sean? Are you OK?"

Sean's head lifted. His face was white and drawn, the hazel eyes that Elijah loved were slate-grey pools of pain.

'Oh god, no,' Elijah thought, feeling a pang hit his stomach. 'Not again.'

"Lij," he half-whispered. "Can I come in? Is it OK? It's late. I'm sorry, but…"

Elijah hesitated for a moment, then reached for his arm and pulled him into the living room.

"Yes, yes. Of course, come in. My god, Sean, what's wrong? You look awful."

Sean merely shrugged.

Elijah guided him to the bar and shoved him onto a bar-stool. "Are you drunk?"

Sean's eyes widened. "What?" he queried, confused. Then a look of realization spread across his face. "Oh." He picked up the lapel of his suit-coat with two fingers and sniffed it. "This?"

Elijah nodded, and Sean shook his head.

"No," Sean murmured. "Not drunk. I was drinking a brandy and it got spilled all over me."

"How?"

Sean's head went down again, and he silently contemplated the top of the bar. Then he sighed and looked at Elijah. "Chris shoved me and it spilled all over my jacket."

"Shoved you?" Elijah asked, unable to hide the shock in his voice.

Sean shook his head. "Accident," he said. "She was just mad and trying to get past me."

Elijah absorbed this without comment. He swallowed hard. "Coffee," he announced, turning to the coffee maker against the wall. "You need coffee." 'And so do I,' Elijah thought. He felt suddenly very tired, and sighed as he moved to the coffee maker behind him.

"Thanks, Lij," Sean croaked.

Elijah turned to see Sean lower his head. His powerful hands were fisted on the bar. He propped his forehead against them and shivered.

Elijah felt a dull ache slowly fill his belly and chest. His movements, as he made the coffee, were slow. Deliberate. He needed time to think. To ponder what to say to the friend who sat, quietly, behind him.

He pressed the button that started the coffee brewing and turned back to the bar. "Sean, we need to talk."

Sean's head lifted and he stared into Elijah's eyes. Elijah winced at the anguish he saw pooled there, but he had to speak. "I can't do this, Sean," Elijah breathed. "I just can't."

Sean lowered his head and nodded. "OK," he said, his voice thick, almost strangled. He started to get up. "I'll go."

An explosion of anxiety sucked the air from Elijah's lungs. "No!" he protested, moving quickly to shove Sean back to the barstool. "Just sit there. I've made coffee and I want you to drink some."

He didn't say: 'Before you go.' But Sean heard the words echo in his mind. He inhaled deeply, and Elijah heard his breath shudder in his chest. He kept his palms firmly planted against Sean's shoulders. "Just sit there," he commanded. "I said I wanted to talk to you."

Sean nodded not looking up, and Elijah could feel him trembling.

"I take it that you two fought," he said.

Sean nodded tightly.

"About me?" Elijah asked.

Another nod.

"Accused us of being lovers," Elijah said.

Another nod.

"What did she say when you denied it?" Elijah asked him quietly.

Sean's head shook. "Nothing," he rasped.

"Nothing?"

He slowly lifted his head and his eyes burned into Elijah's. "I didn't deny it."

"What?" Elijah gasped. "You… you… didn’t?"

A small smile crept across Sean's face and for the first time Elijah saw a hint of color touch his eyes.

"Sean!" Elijah cried excitedly. “You told her? What did she say when you… "

Sean interrupted him. "Before you get too happy…." He said sadly, his words trailing off.

Elijah waited, breath caught in his throat.

"Like the distinguished Mr. Monaghan," he drawled in a tired voice. "I neither confirmed nor denied."

Elijah nodded. "Well, even that must have… "

Sean nodded. "Pissed her off to the max." He grabbed his suit coat in his fist. "That's when this happened. She shoved me out of the way and left the room."

Elijah reached for the suit coat. "Take this thing off," he muttered, tugging at it. "It stinks to high heaven."

Sean brushed his hands away. "No point," he muttered. "I'm not staying."

Elijah bit his lip and grabbed the jacket again. "Please," he asked softly. "Please, Sean."

Sean sighed and allowed him to remove the suit-coat. Elijah sniffed it once, then moved to drape it over a barstool further down from where they were sitting. "Whew!"

Sean half-laughed. "Yeah. I know. I've been wearing it for two hours."

Elijah stood beside him and wound an arm around Sean's neck. "Hug?" he asked quietly.

Sean glanced sideways skeptically. "Maybe not a good idea?" he queried in return. He half-turned and his hand moved to rest on the waistband of Elijah's sweat pants.

Elijah shrugged and Sean smiled, letting his palm slide slowly up and down Elijah's side. "Ya think?" Sean asked again.

Elijah's arm tightened and he pressed Sean against him. "Fuck it," he murmured against Sean's shoulder. He knew Sean was right. He knew that once they were like this, once he felt Sean's body… he let the thought trail away and lost himself in warm, sweet form. He felt Sean's arms encircle him and heard him moan as he suddenly crushed Elijah to him.

Sean swiftly spun the barstool to face Elijah and pulled him between his legs, gasping as he dragged the slender body an impossible inch closer. "Tighter," Sean moaned, his arms like iron around Elijah's body. "Closer, baby. Please."

Elijah grasped him more tightly, rocking him slightly, feeling Sean shaking in his arms. "Shhh," he crooned. "Hush now. You're with me. We're OK. We're OK now, Seanie."

Sean's face was against his neck and Elijah felt his head shake. "You said…" Sean choked. "You said…" Elijah felt his body spasm slightly as if catching a sob in his throat.

"So?" Elijah asked, hating himself. "I’m a twat. So what else is new. Once again… being a drama queen. Forget it. I’m not letting you go. Shut up. We're OK. I’ll be alright."

Sean's hands were moving over his back. Slowly the trembling subsided and Elijah felt Sean relax against his body. He eased back from their embrace and kissed Sean's brow softly. "I still need to talk about all this though."

Sean nodded. "Yes, I know."

"But for now…" Elijah said, moving out of Sean's arms. "Lets have some coffee."

Sean's hand moved down Elijah's arm as their embrace broke and captured his hand. As Elijah started to back away, Sean drew it to his lips and kissed it, looking deeply into Elijah's eyes. Elijah stopped dead in his tracks for a moment then moved swiftly back into Sean's arms.

"God damn it," Elijah moaned, his face against Sean's shoulder. "God fucking damn it!" The strength of Sean's arms as they locked around him immersed Elijah in feelings of love and security so strong that he felt as though he were drowning in them. Bliss wrapped around him like a warm blanket.

'Jesus,' Elijah thought, feeling light headed. 'I could never give him up.' He clutched Sean to him for another long moment, then murmured: "Coffee, Sam."

He felt Sean nod and heard his whisper as his arms opened: "Coffee, Mr. Frodo, sir."

Elijah poured their coffee with shaking hands, then returned to Sean, who had unwound the tie from around his neck and tossed it onto the bar. He silently handed Sean his mug and then sat on the barstool next to him.

For a moment they both sipped their coffee in silence, then Elijah turned and sighed. "What started it?"

Sean shrugged and sipped again, then stood on the footrest and leaned over the bar. He fished in the cooler for a moment and Elijah heard him mumble something. He reappeared momentarily with a cube of ice which he dumped into his coffee.

"I couldn't hear you," Elijah told him.

Sean sipped again. "That's better," he murmured, and then shrugged. "Started it? Nothing started it. It doesn't have to start. It never really ends. Hearing your name starts it. Seeing your face on TV. Even having Ally ask about you can set her off."

"She knows, Sean," Elijah said heavily. "She's known all along."

Sean wrinkled his nose and shook his head. "I don't think so. I think she suspects, yeah. But knows? No. I don't think she knows."

"What difference does it make?" Elijah spat. "Knows. Doesn't know. She's jealous enough of me to make your life miserable over it, and who's to say she's wrong? Not me!"

Sean turned to look at him, his eyes dark with misery.

"Elijah…" he began.

"No!" Elijah continued. "Don't say it. Because I don't want to hear it right now."

Sean turned back toward the bar and lowered his head onto his folded arms.

"I can't take this anymore," Elijah told him. "Months go by and I don't even get five minutes alone with you. I miss you so much I think I'm going to go mad. Then you show up here, broken in two, worn out form trying with all of your strength to stay away from me and make your marriage work."

Sean's head lifted and he turned toward Elijah again.

"Do you know WHY I end up here, broken in two?" he asked.

"Because you miss me too?" Elijah replied.

Sean laughed. "That too," he said quietly, reaching to stroke Elijah's hair. But it's more than that. I come here broken and leave here healed. Your love heals me."

"Doesn’t seem that way," Elijah countered. "You seem wracked with guilt when you leave here. You seem filled with self loathing when you leave here. And that is why I said I can't do this anymore. I can't bear to see you that way."

Sean shook his head. "I do feel guilty," he admitted. "And I suppose there is a certain amount of self loathing too. I think about facing Chris and it hurts to think I'll have to lie to her."

He grabbed Elijah's arms and shook him lightly. "But I feel something else too. Something that's just for me. For me alone! There's a peace inside me, Elijah. The kind of peace a person can only get when they know.. know in their soul.. that they're in the place that's right for them. With the person they're meant to be with."

He released Elijah's arms and turned back to his coffee. "That's what helps me get through the bad feelings. The guilt. The self hatred." He sighed and sipped his coffee and Elijah could see that his hands were shaking. Sean grabbed a bar napkin and wiped the bar where his shaking hands had dripped coffee. "Without the time I get with you. Without that healing. I don't know that I could take it, Elijah. I'd do something… something… irreversible."

"Such as… " Elijah asked.

"Leave," Sean said shortly. "Pack and leave. What else?"

"Jesus, Sean," Elijah murmured. "Don't ever do that without talking to me first."

"Why?" Sean asked him, spinning on his stool to look into Elijah's eyes. "If I did do that, it wouldn't obligate you. Wouldn't even be for you. It'd be because I couldn't lie anymore. It'd be because I couldn't take anymore of being where I don't belong."

Elijah looked up into his eyes. "Just promise me you won't ever do that without at least having one conversation with me. I want the chance to talk you out of it."

Sean scowled and tilted his head back quizzically, eyeing Elijah through a squint. "Oh? And here I thought you wanted me to be free."

"Stop that!" Elijah spat. "Don't even joke about such a thing. Of course I want you to be free! But I also want to be sure that you're sure. If I can talk you out of it.. then obviously you weren't all that sure. Right?"

Sean squinted at him for another minute, then shook his head and turned back to his coffee. "You're not making sense, ring boy. I won't leave on impulse. I won't leave on whim. When I go… I'll go with a suitcase, not a grocery bag."

Elijah lowered his head. "I couldn't bear to think that your girls were hurt because of me. That the very fact that I’m alive took you away from them."

"You?" Sean said fiercely. Then he stopped and looked at Elijah's bent head. "You," he whispered.

Elijah looked up and Sean took his face between two cupped hands. "You," he whispered again and bent to kiss him softly. "You aren't the reason I'll leave. You are the reason I stay. You hold the key that locks me there. That's what I was trying to tell you. You are an oasis for my soul. I can come to you and drink my fill of love that sustains me. Your hands on me are a healer's hands, Lijah. Your touch is a healer's touch. I leave here able to go on. Able to wait until the time is right."

Elijah slid his arms around Sean's waist and stepped off his barstool to move into his embrace. "God, baby," Sean murmured. "Please. Believe in me, Lijah. I wouldn't leave, even for you, unless there were other reasons that were just as compelling. It's not just so we can be together. That's part of it, but not all."

And," Sean said with a smile. "When was the last time you went 'months' without seeing me?"

Elijah ducked his head. "Well, it sure FEELS like months."

Sean laughed and hugged him close. "You're right," he murmured.

"That it feels like months?" Elijah asked, smiling against his shirt.

"No. That you're a twat," Sean informed him, gripping him tight so he couldn't wriggle loose in protest at Sean's words.

"Hey!" Elijah cried with pretend anger. "I said that to make you feel better! No fair using it to diss me!"

But Sean could feel him shaking with laughter and hugged him even tighter. He bent and pressed his lips against Elijah's cheek. "Drama queen," he accused in a whisper.

Elijah sniffed his shirt and wrinkled his nose. “Alcoholic!"

Sean nuzzled Elijah's neck and kissed it softly. He felt Elijah shiver. "Oh, and just so we're clear," he whispered. "I had just taken a deep breath and was completely ready to confirm when she blew past me and locked herself in the bedroom."

"Confirm?" Elijah asked.

"That we're lovers," Sean replied.

Elijah stood silently in his arms for a moment, then pushed back to look at him.

"Don't do that," he said.

"And why not?" Sean queried. "She asked. And I’m really sick of lying."

"Because," Elijah said quietly. "The timing is wrong."

Sean snorted. "Will the timing ever be really right?" He squinted at Elijah. "I thought you wanted me to tell her."

Elijah shrugged. "I want a lot of things, Sean. I want you and I to be really together, not separated for months in between these marathon, angst-ridden, sessions. I want it to be easy, but it's not. I want you with me all the time, but you're not. I want it to be OK for me to love you and for you to love me back, but it's not."

Sean stood, silently listening, while Elijah talked. Pain was shredding his voice. The blue eyes Sean loved were narrow and almost invisible beneath furrowed brows. Sean reached out, wanting to hold him, touch him. But Elijah cringed and pulled away.

"Don't," he said shortly. "That'll only make it worse." He swallowed hard, shuddering as he tried to compose himself. "I don't mean to complain, Sean. I only mean to point out that what I want isn't really relevant."

"It is to me."

Elijah shrugged.

"I guess," Sean said quietly, "everything isn't going to be the way we think it ought to be… for now at least."

Elijah looked up at him, his mouth twisted into a scowl. "Gee, ya think?" he gibed sarcastically.

Sean sighed. "OK. OK. I'm sorry." He turned back to the bar and sipped his coffee, his heart aching. His lover. His friend. His refuge. Soul-bonded to him forever. Elijah was all of that and more. Yet Sean knew he couldn't ease the pain in Elijah's heart. Trying and failing only left him feeling worse.

"I do try to make it right, Lij," he whispered.

Elijah sighed. “I know you do. And you do make it right, Sean. As right as it can be in this fucked up situation. You’re my rock even in the midst of all this emotional pain.” He ran his index finger around Sean’s hairline. “I just don’t want you acting on impulse, that’s all.”

Sean looked at him quietly, instinctively knowing there was more.

Elijah glanced up into his eyes. “I don’t want you to end up with regrets. I don’t want our life together to start off marred by the thought that you made the move before you should have.”

Sean nodded. “I promise you,” he said softly. “I won’t do or say anything seriously irreversible without talking to you first.”

He tipped Elijah’s face up to his. “OK?”

Elijah nodded. “That’s good enough for me.” He nudged Sean until his arm lifted and dropped around Elijah’s shoulders. "Sorry," Elijah said quietly. "Being a twat again."

Sean kissed his forehead and sat his coffee down so he could enfold Elijah in his arms. Their bodies pressed hard together and Sean buried his face against Elijah's neck. This was Sean's only solace when the conditions forced on their relationship became too much for him to bear. Elijah in his arms.

Sean closed his eyes and lost himself in the feeling of Elijah's slender body shaking against him, in the scent of cloves and beer and sweat that filled Sean's nostrils as he inhaled, in the pungent taste of salt and something rather like ginger against his tongue as it skimmed lightly over Elijah's neck.

Sean heard Elijah gasp and moved his tongue more slowly.. opening his mouth wider to nibble down the side of Elijah's neck. His fingers tugged the collar of Elijah's t-shirt, trying to expose more skin to his exploring teeth and tongue. He bit and nibbled across Elijah's collarbone, tasting the t-shirt, the cloth dry and rough.

Sean thought of Elijah's soft, smooth skin and moaned. He quickly pressed his mouth against Elijah's throat, licking him, kissing him. Sliding his lips upward until his lips could caress the angles of Elijah's face.

Sean felt fingers grasp his arms convulsively as his tongue traveled slowly around the curve of Elijah's ear. He smiled as he heard Elijah's breathless gasp. "Oh, Sean, there. God, yes. There!"

Elijah's ears were highly erogenous. Sean could get a soft moan with even the slightest brush of his finger tip. And now his tongue, teeth, and breath were teasing Elijah's ear with seemingly endless, feather-soft caresses, and the sounds pouring from his young lover's throat were taking Sean's breath. He could feel the hardness of Elijah's erection against his thigh. And when he heard Elijah gasp and felt it throb, his knees gave way and he sagged against the barstool.

Elijah's fingers clawed at his arm as Sean's mouth poured hot air into Elijah's ear like wine and his teeth closed softly over a velvety earlobe. "Want you," Sean grated. "Oh god, Lijah, need you now. Fucking now!"

Elijah gasped again and yanked himself away from their embrace. He took Sean's hand and pulled. "C'mon," he whispered. "Come with me."

Sean staggered blindly after him clinging to his hand, while Elijah retraced the steps to his bedroom. Once they got there Elijah smiled and sat Sean down on the bed. "Sit there a second," he murmured.

He quickly stripped off his sweatpants and t-shirt and then knelt, naked, in front of Sean.

"Oh, god," Sean gasped, reaching out to touch him.

"Not yet," Elijah whispered, grabbing Sean's hands and placing them on the bed at his sides. He looked up into eyes gone emerald with desire. "Wait," he breathed.

"Elijah," Sean moaned. "Please."

"No. Wait."

He unbuttoned Sean's shirt, and slowly removed it, stopping twice to replace Sean's hands on the bed next to him. "Wait," he breathed.

Sean's inhale was almost a sob. "Lij," he gasped. "Lijah…"

Elijah took Sean's face in his hands and kissed him tenderly. He felt Sean's mouth open under his. He heard and felt Sean moan as their mouths pressed together and tongues touched.

Elijah's hands dropped and slid under Sean's t-shirt. Still kneeling between Sean's legs, he leaned back from their kiss and caressed his lover's chest. His small fingers moved slowly and he heard himself whimper. Sean's body was incredibly male, for all of the smallness of his stature, and Elijah savored the overwhelmingly sexy feeling of Sean's chest and shoulders under his hands.

"Lij," Sean croaked. "Jesus, please."

Elijah tugged at the bottom of Sean's t-shirt, pulling it over his head. His hair-encircled nipples were already hard buds as Elijah's thumbs began to caress them. But this wasn't enough and Elijah whimpered in frustration. "Taste. Have to taste you."

His mouth pressed against Sean's chest, his tongue softly playing over Sean's pectorals. He could feel Sean's breath shuddering in his chest, and hear his gasps as Elijah's tongue teased and tortured his nipples.

This was Elijah’s healing. Making Sean wait. White hot flashes of desire seemed to leave white hot blasts of clarity as a residue. Elijah felt his love for this man fill and strangle him. And yet he wanted Sean to wait. To let Elijah empty him of all except pure longing. Then Elijah would fill him. Heal him.

"Elijah," Sean whispered hoarsely. "I can't take anymore! Sweet, Jesus, baby, I have to touch you."

Elijah quickly grabbed his hands and pushed them down again. "Not yet," he whispered. He kissed Sean deeply but without touching his body, letting their tongues do what he wouldn't allow Sean's hands to do. Touch and dance and caress, both of them moaning at the contact.

‘Time’s not right yet,” Elijah thought. Time’s not right for their relationship to be fully acknowledged. And time’s not right for Sean’s hands to touch the creamed honey of his body. He’d felt so lonely for that touch for so long. But now that it was his, he yearned to make them both wait. To be sure they wanted it enough. Enough to make it worth all the pain.

Elijah leaned back again, and placed his hand over the hardness of Sean's arousal and rubbed. He heard Sean's whimper and felt the swollen erection pulse beneath his fingers. Elijah's eyes slowly closed and his breath caught. He unsnapped Sean's slacks and slowly lowered the zipper. Looking up at Sean, he reached to grasp his hands, then leaned back, tugging. "Stand up."

"Elijah," Sean whispered, letting Elijah pull him to his feet.

"Soon," Elijah whispered back. "Soon, baby." Elijah wanted Sean emptied of guilt. Fear. Regrets. All the feelings that marred their union. He wanted Sean as clarified and clear as a new formed diamond, filled only with white hot yearning. Then somehow in Elijah’s soul, all the loneliness and pain and waiting would be worth it.

‘Yes,” Elijah thought. “Soon.”

He felt Sean's hands in his hair, but didn't make him stop. His whole body yearned for Sean's touch. He could see Sean's cock straining against his briefs and leaned forward to press his mouth against the hardness throbbing beneath the cloth. He exhaled hot breath there, and heard Sean cry out.

Elijah's eyes swung upward and met blazing emerald fire looking back. Sean bent, caught Elijah in his arms, and pulled him to his feet. Spinning, he threw him to the bed and after quickly shedding his slacks and briefs, leaned over Elijah, knees straddling his hips, hands pressed into the mattress on either side of his face.

Elijah stared up at Sean, his mouth twisted, breathing in shallow, whimpering pants. He grabbed Sean's wrists and lifted his hands from the mattress. As Sean stared down at him, Elijah placed Sean's hands on his chest and pressed down hard. He moved Sean's hands wildly all over his body, moaning with desire. "Now," he ground out between clenched teeth. "Now, Sean! Touch me! God, touch me now!"

Sean swept his hands over every inch of Elijah's skin that he could reach. One hand closed around Elijah's erection, stroking, teasing. Elijah grabbed Sean's arms and pulled him down roughly. He fell forward, and ground his body into Elijah's who jerked violently and lifted himself to press hard against Sean. They strained their bodies together and in moments were both shaking violently as they came.

Sean collapsed onto Elijah’s body… his face pressed against Elijah’s throat. “Mmm,” he half-moaned. He licked the sweat-damp skin and smiled at the taste of salt. His head lifted and he looked down into cobalt blue fire. “Someday,” he said softly, his voice shaking. “I’ll come to you and never leave you again. God, if I had my way.. never again would I turn away from you. Someday, Elijah. That’s how it’ll be for us. I swear.”

Elijah nodded silently, not trusting his voice.

“Please,” Sean whispered. “Please, say you won’t give up on me. It will be alright one day. Please say you believe me, Elijah.” His head fell forward to rest against Elijah’s chest. “I don’t know how else I can bear it.”

Elijah’s arms wound around Sean’s head, his hands smoothing the unsmoothable waves. “I will never give up on you. You have my absolute promise.” He kissed Sean’s hair. “And you,” he murmured. “Please don’t wait ‘til you’re broken in two to come to me. Let me know you love me, Sean. Don’t leave me all alone.”

Sean’s head lifted and he nodded.

“That’s all I need,” Elijah told him. “If I have that, Sean, then no matter what else happens… I shall believe.”


End file.
